...After the memorial service, I had a chance to hang out with some friends who I hadn't seen in a while - and a few new ones. It's always fun to sit around and catch up on everybody's life and drama. So many of us are scattered across the country, it was inevitable that someone would mention that we only gather like this for a funeral.
Everyone had a Dottie story or two or three or more to tell. Sitting there listening, I think it dawned on all of us at different points that even though we all thought we were Dottie's best friend, she was just good at making everyone feel that way. Dottie loved everyone - without exception.
Proof: As I sat in the choir loft with the rest of the Homecoming singers, I looked across the congregation that had filled the big Christ Church auditorium for Dottie's goodbye party. The variety of people in those pews was about as diverse as you'd ever see in a place like this.
Just about every kind of Christian theology and understanding of biblical thought you could imagine must've been represented there - not just in the seats, but on the platform.
Most of the congregation was white, but African-Americans and Asians and Central-Americans and several others were scattered throughout the room as well. Big time celebrities shared pews with everyday Janes and Joes. I saw some very conservative Pentecostals and Baptists sitting among the gay men and women who came to show love to their friend one last time. Bluejeans and suits with ties and pretty dresses and t-shirts and priestly collars were everywhere.
No one seemed to be offended that the other was there. These were people who loved the person and the music of Dottie Rambo. Every single one of them was attracted to her songs of Home and the way to get there. And because she didn't see the need to make the message or its audience exclusive, it made for a very eclectic congregation of very unlikely worshippers on this day.
The hands that went up into the air off and on all afternoon were attached to hearts that just wanted to honor God - without a label or a designation or a notion. That's the way Dottie saw it, and preached it. And that's why we were all there.
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Larry Ferguson and Ronnie Meadows and Chris Barnes are still in various places of recovery. I don't know if very many minutes go by that I don't think of these guys and their families. So, when I think of them I pray for them. Their issues will not end when their bodies are whole. They will have other difficulties to face in the weeks and months to come.
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